No Government? Then No Pay for Congress!

Dear Colleague:

It’s time for Congress to start living in the real world, where you do your job or you don’t get paid. That’s why I reintroduced H.R.1789, the bipartisan “No Government No Pay Act” which would prohibit Members of Congress from getting paid during government
shutdowns.

While the Constitution requires that the measure apply to the next Congress and to all future Congresses, this bill should serve as a reminder that Americans expect Congress to get to work, fix what needs fixing, and do what needs to be done to keep the
government open and working.

The simple truth is that if we are willing to put the American people through costly and unnecessary government shutdowns, then Members of Congress ought to have the decency and integrity to forego our own pay until the government is back at work.

With another government funding deadline rapidly approaching and the Congress continuing to govern by crisis management, I hope you will join me in sending a strong message to the American people that we are here to work and if we don’t do our job then we
don’t deserve to get paid.